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D. KENNEDY.

PERCUSSION FUSE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 3. 1919.

Patented N 0V. 11, 1919.

entra n s'rarns ATENT orFIoE.

DAVID KENNEDY, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

PERCUSSION-FUSE.

Application filed February 3, 1919.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, DAVID KENNEDY, a subject of the King of England, residing at London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Percussion-Fuses, of W hich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to percussion or impact fuses for projectiles (which term includes such devices as bombs and handgrenades) of the kind which are intended to detonate a charge irrespective of the direction of impact. The invention is particularly applicable to the so-called all-ways fuse of a Stokes shell.

A primary object of the invention is to provide an improved fuse of the type which comprises a casing, a sliding striker therein held away from a detonator by a spring, and a tumbler having a stem which projects through a cap on the casing, is a loose fit therein, and has a head which is situated on that end which lies within the cap and bears against the striker, the construction and arrangement of the fuse being such that the fuse will operate reliably irrespective of the direction in which impact may occur.

Another object is to obviate miss-fires due to wear of that part of the casing which acts as an abutment for the head of the tumbler when lateral impact occurs. v

It has heretofore been proposed to construct a fuse of this type, wherein the head of the tumbler was concave on that side which bore against the striker, and the striker was convex; the head, moreover, had its shoulder, which bore against the inner side of the cap, sunk in a recess which fitted the head. This known construction and arrangement falls outside the scope of this invention.

A fuse according to the present invention preferably has the convex head so mounted that its sides cannot touch the sides of the chamber containing it; for example, the shouldered portion of the head may be recessed and engage an upstanding rim on the cap of the casing.

To these ends, the invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of parts described hereinafter and pointed out in the claims.

One embodiment of the invention and a Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 11, 1919.-

Serial No. 274,761.

modification thereof is represented by way of example in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation showing one formof fuse according to the invention,

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof after the domed cover-plate has been removed, and Fig. 3 is a detail view of the tumbler;

Fig. a is a vertical section showing a modified form of striker according to the invention.

'Referring to Figs. 1 to 3, a cylindrical casing A is provided with means such as an internally and externally screw-threaded adapter A for securing it to the shell or other explosive missile with which it is to be employed. A detonator-carrier B is free to slide in the casing A and rests on the adapter A A striker G is slidably mounted in the casing A and carries the usual striker point C It is kept away from the detonator-carrier andv the detonator-carrier from it by one or more flat springs D. These parts are all the same as those which have heretofore been employed in the allways fuse, except that the face C of the striker which is adjacent to a tumbler E described hereinafter is made flat instead of its being in the form of a conical recess similar to that shown at F in Fig. t such as is used in the all-ways fuse in which a ball is used instead of a tumbler, which tumbler has a convex face E which bears against the flat face C of the striker C. The shoulder of the head E which bears against the cap G is recessed at E and the ca G isprovided with an upstanding rim or flange G which enters this recess. The orifice G in the cap is considerably larger than the stem E so that the latter is a loose fit in the cap and consequently can rock therein, but it is kept in a central position by'the flange G and the sides of the head E are thus kept clear of the inner sides of the casing A. i

To prevent the tumbler E from being the stem E which is heavy, to be thrown to one side or the other so that the tumbler E is rocked on the cap G about the edge of its shouldered head E with the result that the convex face E operates as a cam against the striker C and forces it toward the detonatorcarrier, so that the pin C detonates the pellet. If the impacts acts end-on to the tumbler in the one direction the whole innibler of course moves bodily axially toward the detonator-carrier, while if the impact acts endwise in the opposite direction, the detonator is jerked against the point of the striker owing to the momentum of its carrier.

It has been found that if the shoulder of the head E is made to fit the chamber A, or is received in a recess in the cap G for the purpose of centering the tumbler, its edge digs into the metal surrounding it when lateral impact occurs, with the result that the tumbler is not always thrown over and consequently the fuse is at times inoperative. It will be seen that the cen ral flange G 011 the cap, while centering the tumbler, allows no possibility of this dc fective operation.

Instead of the above-described striker C the striker F shown in Fig. 4, the body of which is already in use in the ll-ways fuse, may be employed, the striker-pin used therewith being, however, removed and substituted by a striker-pin F having a large head F within the conical recess F L The known striker-pin used heretofore does'not project into the recess F and ti recess would prevent the convex face of the tumbler from operating the striker satisfactorily, whereas if a pin F having a large head F is inserted, or any projection F is secured in the recess F of the said known striker-body, this head or projection serves as an abutment for the head E and thus the striker used heretofore can be modified to be used with the improved form of tumbler described above.

lVhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a percussion fuse of the character described, the combination with a casing, a (Iletonator-carrier supported thereinat one end thereof, a cap having a central orifice mounted in the other end of the casing, a striker slidable in the casing between the cap and the detonator-carrier, and a spring between the striker and the detonator-carrier,

of a tumbler having a stem which extends with play through said orifice and has on its inner end a head which has a convex face bearing against the striker, said cap having annular guiding means thereon to center the head and prevent it from touching the easing, for the purpose specified.

2. In a percussion fuse of the character described, the combination with a casing, a detonator-carrier supported therein at one end thereof, a cap having a central orifice mounted on the other end of the casing, a striker slidalole in the casing between the cap and the detonator-carrier, and a spring be? tween the striker and the detonator-carrier, of a tumbler having a stem which extends with play through said orifice and has on its inner end a head which has a convex face bearing against the striker, said head having an annular recess surrounding the stem, and said cap having an annular rim which normally takes into said recess and centers the head, for the purpose specified.

3. In a percussion fuse of the character described, the combination of a owing, a detonator-carrier supported therein at one end thereof, a cap having a central orifice mounted on the other end of the casing, a striker slidable in the casing between the cap and the detonator-carrier and having a flatbottonied recess in its face remote from the detonator-carrier, a spring compressed between the striker and the detonator-carrier, and a tumbler having a stem which extends with play through the said orifice and has on its inner end a head which has a convex face bearing against the fiat bottom of the said recess in the striker, for the purpose specified.

4:. In a percussion fuse of the character described, the combination of acasing, a (letonator therein, a striker therefor, a cap for said casing having a central orifice, a projecting rim surrounding said orifice, and a tumbler having a stem extending with play through said orifice, said tumbler having an annular recess adapted to receive said projecting rim to hold the tumbler out of contact with the casing, substantially as described.

5. A percussion fuse having a detonatorcarrier supported at one end of a casing, a cap having a central orifice at the other end of the casing, a striker slidable between said cap and detonator carrier and a tumbler having a stem which extends with play through the said orifice, characterized by ti re tumbler being formed with an annular recess surrounding the stem and by the cap having an annular rim which normally projects within said recess for the purpose specified, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

DAVID KENNEDY.

Copies of this patentmay be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

